Here we go again, this Saturday (March 1st) Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will go at it for the third and final time when they battle for the WBC Super Bantamweight Championship. Their first two bouts were epic, bloody battles of two warriors, non stop two way action of skill and will, both gave just as good as they got, from the opening bell of their first bout, it was immediately obvious that they were evenly matched in every way, hard punching technical fighters with gladiator spirits. In the first fight, Marquez came out on top, he established his rhythm from the first round on, breaking Vazquez’s nose, and that ultimately was the reason Vazquez claimed to have quit, but no one can argue the decision of such a great fighter, Vazquez was clearly bothered by his severely broken nose. Although I believe Vazquez’s injury was enough to throw off his game plan, it was amazing to see Marquez execute his, with perfect timing and accurate punching, Vazquez had no answer for the bombs Marquez was landing. Yet the bout almost came to an end in round three when Marquez backed up leaving his right hand low, that enabled Vazquez to uncurl his vicious left hook that dropped Marquez, but up he got in a few seconds to finish the round. The fight continued in heart pumping action, but it was Marquez inflicting all the damage on the injured Vazquez, and after round 7 Vazquez was unable to continue.

In the rematch, it was Vazquez who hunted a fading Marquez, in round three Vazquez caught Marquez with another solid left hook that rattled Marquez, but he battled back and stood on his feet, they fired at each other, back and forth, never letting up. After round three, you could see a huge change in the fight, Marquez was fighting on instinct, he was being backed up, he wasn’t jabbing, constantly throwing punches off his back foot, thus giving away power, and Vazquez continued to march forward applying steady strategic pressure. After 5 grueling rounds, Marquez took another clean shot to the jaw in round 6 and down he went, he got up on very shaky legs, although he was obviously hurt, Marquez fought back, throwing punches, but his back was against the ropes and Vazquez smelled knock out, while stumbling back with his hands held high, Marquez failed to punch back and the fight was stopped. Many argued the stoppage, but the bottom line was Marquez had nothing left, he wasn’t punching back, and his legs were gone, a clear TKO win for Vazquez in my eyes.

Now, a little under seven months after their awesome rematch, they will be back at it again, both men promising a knockout, both want to give the fans a great fight, and both have always delivered, What will happen?

I believe that either fighter can come out victorious, but it all comes down to who can impose their strategy?, who can execute?, who will land the harder shots?

Keys to Victory For Israel Vazquez:

Make it a fight-Vazquez must push for a brawl, it will work in his favor if he can get Marquez to mix it up. As Vazquez did in both fights, going to war will give him more chances to land that left hook that worked so well for him.
Apply Pressure- Keep Marquez on his heels, don’t allow him to get into a rhythm, take him out of his comfort zone, press forward and throw punches, land wherever possible.
Stay Close- Fighting at a distance puts Vazquez at a disadvantage. As it showed in the first two fights, Marquez has a tremendous jab, and great counter punching abilities, he can make you pay if you miss, and overall, Marquez is the better boxer, so Vazquez must get close and rip Marquez with short compact punches, the closer they are,
the more accurate Vazquez will be.
Head Movement- Use it, and use it often, even though Vazquez proved to be the harder puncher, he still must use head movement to avoid Marquez’s jabs and hooks.
Double Jab- Marquez has the better jab, no question, but Vazquez has a decent one, if he can throw a double jab, that will allow him to get in close, and that’s where he wants to be.
*If in fact Vazquez wins, it will come by way of knockout within 9 rounds, I’m not so sure he can Out Box Marquez through 12 rounds.

Keys to Victory For Rafael Marquez:

Box-As he did beautifully in the first fight, Marquez used his boxing ability to disrupt Vazquez’s offense, a solid jab followed by a fast strong combination.
Go To The Body- Both are excellent body punchers, Vazquez used a more stable body attack then Marquez did, but if Marquez can land to the body early, that will help him to slow down Vazquez who will attempt to come on strong in the end.
Jab- Jab, and jab often, this will set up his power shots, he used an assertive jab to break the nose of Vazquez in their first fight.
*Although Vazquez made the second fight a bit more one-sided, I still think Marquez has less to correct in order to come out on top. It is hard to imagine this fight going the distance, I see another TKO ending, if Marquez wins via KO or TKO, it will be within 11 rounds.

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This entry was posted on February 25, 2008 at 3:08 and is filed under Pick-em.
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